His real name is Melekamu. Everyone knows him as Abushe – “little boy” in the local language.

He was born with these blue eyes, inherited from his mother, a result of Waardenberg syndrome. As a child in Jinka, Ethiopia, he was bullied for this difference. That was before tourists discovered him on the streets many years ago and began paying to take his photo.

I’ve heard different stories about him, and it’s hard to discern the truth. His parents are dead, or his mother is very much alive. He has been offered modeling contracts but would rather stay home, or he wants to go to boarding school and leave Jinka. He supports his friends with his modeling income, or he lives on the streets trying to recover from an addiction to sniffing glue.

I believe he is 15 years old. The day I met him, he greeted me with a sweaty hand grasp and a lean in to touch right shoulders (the Ethiopian hug). He was friendly, earnest, and ready to model. Accompanied by a translator/handler, he posed in many locations around the hotel. I was able to make him smile with some antics. He came across both as a hard-working model and as a regular kid.

Once finished, our group paid him his modeling fees of about $185 US dollars for an hour’s work, given to his handler.

I hope every positive story about Abushe is true. I hope he has the opportunity to accomplish all that he dreams of. I hope our interaction was fun, and the money he earned was beneficial. I’ll follow the story of the blue-eyed boy wherever I find it, always a fan of the special kid from Jinka.